Hopper car door securing mechanism



Dec. 29, 1931. J. J. TATUM 1,338,593

HOPPER GAR DOOR SEGURING MECHANISM Filed Aug. 20, 1929 4 sheets-sheet v2 Dec. 29, 1931. J. J. TATUM l HOPPER CAR DOOR SECURING HECHANISK Fned Aug. `20. 1929 7 4 sheets-sheet s Dec. 29, 1931. .1. J. 'rA-ruM HOPPER CAR DOOR SECURING MECHANISM 4 'sheets-Sheet '4 Filed Aug. 20, 1929 Patented Dec. 29, V1931 UNITED-STATES PATENT OFFICE Horrnn GAR Doon, sEcURING MECHANISM:

-Application filed August 20, 1929. Serial No. 387,242.

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provide for drop doors pointed out.V 25

While I have, for the purposes of illustrating my invention, shown yit embodied in a car with drop hopperl doors designed to discharge under the car, lit will, of course, be understood that my invention may be just efliciently used on cars, the ,drop doors of which discharge toward thesides of the car.

One of the objects of my invention is to for railway cars a latch which functions to hold the door se# Acurely in closed position, and at the same time provide means to hold the side hopper sheets of the door fromfspreading should the torn from its fastening; Another object of my invention is'to provide a construction of keeper for Ythe latch to prevent the latch from becoming unduly wedged in the same.

Another object of my invention is to provide 'a housing on the outside of the door for the latch; and with these andy otherobjects in view my invention consists of the parts and combination of parts as will beV hereinafter In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of one end portion of a railway car showing my invention applied to the drop doors.

Figure 2 is an enlarged detail side elevation y of a portion of the car, and hopper, the doorA being shown infull lines in closed position and in dotted lines in open position.- Y

Figure 3 is an enlarged detail elevation looking at the outside face of the door.

Figure 4 is an enlarged detail transverse sectional view through the Ahopper andthe door, the latch mechanism being in top plan vlew. V

Figure 5 is an enlarged detail view of an end of the keeper, the latch being shown in engagement'therewith Yand in section.

The reference numeral 6 designates a rail'- way car provided with-the bottom hoppers 7 all of approved type. The doors 8 hinged at the top (as at 9) may be of any approved type and are preferably provided with rigidifying flange l0 to assist the door sheet in sustaining the load in the hopper, the bottom edge of the door being flanged as at 11, which flange extends under the hopper .as

clearly shown in Figure 2. The side sheets, or walls of the hopper at their bottom edge portions may, if preferred for the sake of rigidity land reinforcement, be provided Von their outer faces with pressed angle iron plate `55 12 secured by rivets 13, or other devices, said angle'iron, preferably extending across the bottom of the. hopper at the 'dischargeend According to my invention `I secureby rivets, or otherwise, to the side sheet-s, or -s'ide -60 sheets and angle irons 12, a keeper plate 14 which, in case of, angle irons being used, is deflected as at 15 to give clearance for the ange 16 of the angle iron and the iange l0 'at the side edge of the door 8, as clearly shown -65 in Figure 4. The outer end of the keeer plate is notched, one wall `18 of the notch being inclined toward the hopper, while the Y bottom wall 19 is preferablyV flat. Thewall 20 of the notch is undercut, as shown in Figure 5. This wall 20 constitutes the outer bearing for the latch and the undercut feature permits the latch to be forced by the load on the door and the weight of the door into snug engagement therewith and held against accidental disengagement whereby the latch is automatically held in locked position. Preferably, the bottom of the latch, in locked position is spaced from contact with the bottom wall 19 of the notch vin the "80 keeper to prevent the latch becoming wedged Y in t-he notch when it is forced against the undercut wallv20 of the notch. With this construction the bottom corner of the latch cannot bite into the face of the wall 19 ofthe notch, besides which this feature prevents any strain from being thrown upon the hinge pin by the lifting of the door by the `force of thedog upon the latch. e

Preferably the vdoors 8 are provided with spreader bars, or stifleners 21, which may be of any desiredcommercial shape. 4I secure to the stiffener 21 a housing 22 at the outer end of which are upstanding flanges 231 In the housing I mount the latch 24 on a pivot 25, saidlatch extending at its free end beyond the side edge of the door and beyond the keeper plate 14 (as clearly shown in Figures 3 and 4), the extreme outer end` portion lof the latch being bent backward and delected slightly downward, this bent end 26, as shown in Figures 2 and 4 extending lengthwise outside of the keeper plate. This end 26 by reason of its position relative to the keeper plate functions to keep the side plates or sheet of the hopper from spreading should it become torn from its astenings, and the end 26 Jfurther provides means which may be struck by a suitable instrument to throw the latch from an engaged position with the keeper. The end of the keeper is tapered as at 27 to engage the latch when the door is forced to closed position so that it can be readily moved to the notch in the keeper to hold the door in closed position.

The latch is loosely pivoted in the housing so as to permit it to slightly tilt or rock on its pivot to lit snugly against the undercut wall 20 of the notch in the keeper. The lower side edge of the door in line with'the locking devices is without a flange so as to permit free movement of the door without interfering with either the hook or the latch.

Between the upstanding flanges 23 of the housing 22 I pivot a weighted lock 28 pivoted 0E balance which is adapted to move by reason of its oil balance to wedging locking engagement against the upper edge of the latch and provide an additional means holding the latch against accidental disengagement with its keeper.

As will be seen from Figure 5 the clearance is maintained between the bottom edge of the latch 24 and the bottom wall 19 of the notch in the keeper 14 so that when the door is in its closed position the pressure on the latch exerted will not result in binding action on the hinge pin of the door.

As shown in the drawings the side flange l0 of the door is notched or cut away as at 30 to give free clearance :tor the door latch 24.

The latch 24 is rounded or bevelled as at 31 on its top and bottom inner edges as shown in Figure 5, the purpose of which is to permit the latch to move easily on the inclined edge 27, and by having both of these corners rounded the latch may be used as a right or left hand latch.

The extension 26 at the free end of the latch may be extended forwardly.

What I claim is:

l. In a hopper car, a hopper, a hopper door, a keeper at the side of the hopper having a notch provided with a substantially straight bottom wall, an inner wall inclined inwardly and upwardly toward the door and an outer wall which is undercut, and a latch mounted on the door for swinging movement parallel with the door into and'out of engagement with the notch and for rocking movement at right angles to its plane of swinging movement to underlappingly engage the undercut outer wall of the notch.

2. In a hopper car, a hopper, a hopper door, a keeper at the side of the hopper having a notch provided with a substantially straight bottom wall, an inner wall inclined inwardly and upwardly toward the door and an outer wall Which is undercut, and a latch mounted on the door for swinging movement parallel with the door into and out of engagement with the notch and for rocking movement at right angles to its plane of swinging movement to underlappingly engage the undercut outer wall of the notch, the arrangement being such that in its locking position the latch lies spaced from engagement with the bottom wall of the notch.

3.7In a hopper car, a hopper, a hopper door, a keeper at the side of the hopper having a notch provided with a substantially straight bottom wall, an inner wall inclined inwardly and upwardly toward the door and an outer wall which is undercut, and a latch mounted on the door for swinging movement parallel with the door into and out of engagement with the notch and for rocking movement at right angles to its plane of swinging movement to underlappingly engage the undercut outer wall of the notch, said latch having a rounded bottom face for sliding engagement with the keeper and having a limit of locking movement such that the latch when in locking position lies above and out of engagement with the bottom wall of the keeper notch.

4. In a hopper car, a hopper, a hopper door, a keeper at the side of the hopper provided with a keeper notch having a substantially straight bottom wall, an undercut outer Wall and an upwardly and inwardly inclined inner wall, and a latch bar mounted on the door for swinging movement parallel with said door into and out of engagement with the keeper and for rocking movement at right angles to the plane of the door to underlappingly engage the undercut wall of the notch, the latch having a limit of locking movement such that the latch when in locking position lies above and out of contact with the bottom wall of the notch.

5. In a hopper car, a hopper, a hopper door, a keeper at the side ot the hopper provided with a keeper notch having a substantially straight bottom wall, an undercut outer wall and an upwardly and inwardly inclined inner wall, a latch bar mounted on the door for swinging movement parallel with the door into and out of engagement with the keeper and for rocking movement at right angles to its plane of pivotal movement to underlappingly engage the undercut wall of the notch, the latch having a limit of locking movement such that the latch when in locking position lies above and out of contact with the bottom wall of the notch, and a right angular extension at the free end of the latchfadapted to extend across the notch beyond the latch and to engage the outer surface of the latter to prevent the hopper side from spreading.

6. In a hopper car, a hopper, a hopper door, a keeper at the side of the hopper having a notch provided with a substantially straight bottom wall, an inner wallinclined inwardly and upwardly toward thedoor and an outer wall which is undercut, and a latch pivoted to swing in a vertical plane parallel with the door for movement into and out of engagement with the keeper notch and loosely mounted on its pivot for rocking movement under outward pressure from the door f in a plane at right angles to its swinging movement to underlappingly engage the undercut outer wall of the notch. Y 7. In a hopper car, la hopper, a hopper door, a keeper at the side of the hopper having a notch provided with a substantially straight bottom Wall, an inner wall inclined inwardly and upwardly towardthe door` and an outer wall which is undercut, and a latch pivoted to swing in a vertical plane parallel with the door for movement into and out of engagement with the keeper notch and loosely mounted on its pivot 'for rocking movement under outward pressure from the door in a plane at right angles to its swinging movement to underlappingly engage the undercut outer wall of the notch, said latch Vbeing of a` depth slightly less than the depth of the notch and being limited in its swinging movement so as to be spaced from the bottom wall when in latching position, said latch having rounded upper andlower edges. In testimony whereof I aliix my signature.

JOHNJ. TATUM. 

